ubergreenguru
Active member
Okay! So a few months ago, I bought a used Oreck U2000RB-1 to use for parts - in particular, I wanted the motor w/ the grooved drive shaft & the brush roll w/ grooved drive pulley designed to be used with the "Endurolife" Serpentine Belt.
My original plan was to convert my existing Oreck U4120H2B (my daily driver) to accept the "Endurolife" Serpentine Belt by swapping in the U2000RB-1 Motor & Brush Roll.
Unfortunately, the U2000RB-1 motor was in pretty rough shape, so instead of doing a direct motor swap I opted to replace the two 608 ball bearings on the armature -- then, I swapped the U2000RB-1 armature into my existing U4120H2B Motor, as the two motors were identical "Johnson" units - the only difference was the style of output shaft.
So far so good with everything up until this point. - But now I'm currently trying to install the "Endurolife" Serpentine Belt... and it's proving to be rather difficult, as the "Endurolife" Belt doesn't stretch much at all.
I've tried installing the brush roll & then attempting to stretch the belt from the motor shaft to the brush roll pulley; and vice-versa.
I've also hooked the belt onto the brush roll & motor shaft, and attempted to use the brush roll as leverage while I tried to insert the brush roll into the respective slots in the housing - to no avail.
I simply can't get this damn "Endurolife" belt to stretch enough to install it!
Dear VacuumLand Members: Does anyone have any tips, tricks, suggestions, or ideas as to how I can properly install this darn "Endurolife" belt onto my Oreck XL Vacuum?
Any help would be *sincerely* appreciated!
Thank You Very Much!
~Justin in Chicago



My original plan was to convert my existing Oreck U4120H2B (my daily driver) to accept the "Endurolife" Serpentine Belt by swapping in the U2000RB-1 Motor & Brush Roll.
Unfortunately, the U2000RB-1 motor was in pretty rough shape, so instead of doing a direct motor swap I opted to replace the two 608 ball bearings on the armature -- then, I swapped the U2000RB-1 armature into my existing U4120H2B Motor, as the two motors were identical "Johnson" units - the only difference was the style of output shaft.
So far so good with everything up until this point. - But now I'm currently trying to install the "Endurolife" Serpentine Belt... and it's proving to be rather difficult, as the "Endurolife" Belt doesn't stretch much at all.
I've tried installing the brush roll & then attempting to stretch the belt from the motor shaft to the brush roll pulley; and vice-versa.
I've also hooked the belt onto the brush roll & motor shaft, and attempted to use the brush roll as leverage while I tried to insert the brush roll into the respective slots in the housing - to no avail.
I simply can't get this damn "Endurolife" belt to stretch enough to install it!
Dear VacuumLand Members: Does anyone have any tips, tricks, suggestions, or ideas as to how I can properly install this darn "Endurolife" belt onto my Oreck XL Vacuum?
Any help would be *sincerely* appreciated!
Thank You Very Much!
~Justin in Chicago


